One of the difficulties with leisure boats of different sizes is the mooring of the boat to one or more mooring buoys and/or to one or more mooring rings. A mooring ring may be mounted to a pier or a landing-stage in a harbour where the boat is at home. A mooring ring may also be mounted in a rock or the like in a natural harbour.
The problem when landing with a boat is that the mooring or holding lines must be thread through the mooring ring if one wants to avoid tying a knot in the mooring ring itself. Very often, the mooring ring is situated at a distance from the boat and the person that is to thread the line through the ring. In one example, the person is high above the mooring buoy, e.g. if the boat is a larger sailing boat. In this case, the person must stretch over the railing. In another example, the ring is mounted in a rock or cliff in a natural harbour. The cliff may be steep and/or slippery, so that the landing of a person in order to reach the ring may be difficult or even dangerous. The landing may even be impossible if the draught of the boat and the depth of the water prevent the boat from landing.
The problem of mooring a boat is growing, due to the increase in the number of leisure boats and also due to the increase in the average boat size. The larger the boat is, the more difficult it is to the reach a mooring ring. The problem is increased even further since several of the boat-owners of today are less experienced to steer and handle a boat, especially when it comes to larger boats.
Different devices have been proposed in order to help a person to thread a line through an opening in a ring or the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,560,098 relates to a device suitable for threading a line through a ring member or the like. The threading device comprises a body part, a rotor part comprising at least one wheel having a recess in its periphery and a threading member cooperating with the wheel. This solution may work in some cases, but is adapted for a threading action in a predetermined direction. The wheel is biased to a specific start position. The device is also rather limited regarding the sizes of ring members and lines to which it may work. Since the force to rotate the wheel is applied directly on the wheel, there is a limitation in the obtainable torque since the lever arm will be rather short. The threading member is suspended floatingly on the wheel which makes the construction rather weak. The device can not be used as a regular boat hook.
In DE 10 2006 029 810 A1, another device for threading a line through a ring member or the like is shown. This device comprises a wheel rotatable in one direction, having a hole for the line and a recess adapted for the ring member. The device must be moved in two different directions in order to thread a line through a ring member because the force to rotate the wheel is applied directly on the wheel. The obtainable torque will thus be rather limited since the lever arm will be rather short. The first movement must be a downwards pushing movement before a pulling movement is used to complete the threading. The threading can not be reversed. The threading requires a rather high precision of the user which may be difficult to achieve from a moving boat. The device is rather limited regarding the sizes of ring members and lines to which it may work. The device can not be used as a regular boat hook during the threading operation.
GB 287,407 and GB 442,857 show two further examples of threading devices. Both are rather complicated and require a specific looped line end to function. Both must be manually brought to a specific starting position before they can be used and both can only be used in one direction. Both devices are not suitable for the use as regular boat hooks.
All the known threading devices show some drawbacks. There is thus room for an improved threading device.